


Duty

by nnww2020



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Children, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, Drama, Evanuris, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Pining, Rite of Tranquility, The Fade, Titans, grim and fatalistic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:40:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24722449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nnww2020/pseuds/nnww2020
Summary: In desperation to escape fate, the last of the Evanuris twisted the Fade to breaking point. Finding themselves cast back before the Fall of the Veil, his pursuers must use all the help they can get to finish what they had started and finally banish the last of elven gods forever.
Relationships: Female Lavellan/Solas, Fen'Harel | Solas/Female Lavellan
Kudos: 5





	1. Arrival

The elf dragged himself off the forest floor, his handsome features grimacing at the pain he felt in his head.  
He blinked several times, attempting to make the world one again and not the double he was seeing.

"Revas?!"

His sister's panicked voice reached his still dizzy mind but he retained enough sense to croakily reply, "I'm here, Enansal. At least what remains of me. Is Thene with you?"

He could hear the distinct relief in Enansal's voice as she cried, "I've got him. We should be with you shortly."

Revas blearily took in his surroundings, spotting nothing familiar, and yet all of it was. He used his shakey hands to drag back his blonde hair from his face and up once more into the tight knot at the back of his head.

A wry smile curled his lips upwards as his siblings with all the grace and tact of a horde of _Halla_ stomped their way to him through every bush and shrub it seemed.

But it was with a grin that he greeted their arrival. "You would think neither of you had ever hunted the way you arrived," he greeted warmly.

His words were almost cut off entirely as Thene threw himself at his brother and wrapped his powerful arms around him, no small feat considering he was the same height and build as Revas himself.

"Da'len... I missed you too despite the short time we were apart," Revas murmured, gently rubbing his brother's thick auburn hair that fell in a long plait down his back.

"I didn't know where you were!" Thene sobbed. "An-an-and Ena didn't know either!"

"And yet here we all are together again. So smile, Thene," Revas chuckled. "Now... can you see if the bad _elf_ is around here?"

Thene pulled back from his brother's embrace and wipe away his tears messily with his sleeve before closing his eyes to focus.

"He's... far away? Not in the dream but far. I don't..." Thene opened his eyes wide, staring at Revas with fear. "There's no dream here!!"

Ena crouched beside Thene and gently took his hand. "Maybe it's the shock of that battle. How about we focus together? Is that okay?"

Revas could only watch as Ena led Thene into quietness, the pair holding hands tightly as they both attempted to slip into the Fade. Their strength combined seemed to yield nothing.

"Revas... there's no easy way to the Fade. It's the Veil. The Veil still stands!!" Ena suddenly barked out to Revas's surprise.

"What did that Qunari cock-sucking mage do?" Revas hissed before he gently lifted Thene and Ena back to their feet.

Ena snapped her head up. "That last spell!"

"What about it?"

"He had no escape! The Fade is everything yet nothing all at once and he stood at its core! He could never be as powerful as he was right then!"

"And?"

"And still he was losing. He ran."

Revas sighed. "You're _losing me_ in this conversation, Ena. Could you consider dumbing it down?"

His sister glared at him, brilliant blue eyes narrowing before she started into her theory by shouting it at Revas's sensitive ears.

* * *

"I can't believe this," Revas huffed as he continued his trudge through thick brush and foilage.

Thene on the other hand was loving it, hitching a ride on his brother's back for the journey with bare toes wiggling in the breeze while Enansal followed in the wake of their broken path.

"I'd say maybe another minute or so and we should see it."

"If you're right," hissed Revas as he kicked a particularly nasty thorn bush out of his way. "I'm still almost deaf by the way."

His sister's tinkling laugh echoed behind him. "I'm always right and sod your hearing."

"Well, that's just lovely. And you haven't been always right! You weren't about that Alienage in Ferelden."

"A miscalculation. Which I fixed no thanks to you!"

"What about that trip to the Barrens?" Revas took the silence that followed that as a sign of victory. "Not that it was a bad idea," he remarked as a peace offering. "Just not your best one."

Ena's voice piped up, "We should be able to see it now. Maybe from the tree-tops?"

"Another not-terrible idea. You should add it to your collection," Revas muttered. "Off for a second, Thene. I've some climbing to do."

His brother had no sooner planted his two bare feet on the earth when Revas began to climb. His body was, like all elves, lithe, athletic, and deceptively strong. He'd scaled the nearest tree easily and soon had poked his head out of the upper canopy.

"Damn it," he grumbled before shouting down to his siblings. "You're right, Ena! The White Spire's off in the distance. We're in Arlathan forest."

He slipped down the trunk faster than his ascension and was immediately greeted by a very smug Ena. "Told you."

"You did," Revas agreed. "And it proves your theory mostly correct."

Enansal sighed. "Elgar'nan believes he can escape us this way. Twisting and bending the Fade around us like this. But being here in Thedas before the Fall and Scouring... he's not what he once was."

"Neither are we," Revas replied. "So we at least know where we are. The question is when exactly."

"Tevinter is closest but out of the question," his sister mused, keeping a watchful eye on Thene who was giggling at a host of small butterflies that were fluttering through the trees.

Revas pondered briefly before he added, "The Free Marches then. If we're lucky, perhaps we'll chance upon an opportunity for some mounts. I don't look forward to a long walk."

"Where to after?"

Revas peered up the wonderfully blue sky. "We make for Kirkwall or Starkhaven. Whichever is closest. After that we get people talking."

Ena chuckled, "Think they'll open up to some knife-ears?"

"We'll figure it out. Been through worse, right? What do we have to los-" Revas suddenly roared in the opposite direction, "Thene! That's poisonous Escalbane! Get away from that plant!!"

* * *

True to Revas's words, the long walk was brought to a happy end upon arrival to the outskirts of the Free Marches.

After purchasing two of the skinniest horses that they'd ever laid eyes on, their journey was shortened by weeks.

Thene, with a childish delight, that his siblings could only envy, took the job of animal keeper for their journey. He gave them names (Binky and Betsy); fed and watered them at every stop; cleaned and groomed when needed; and showered all the love he had in his heart on the horses.

Such was his devotion to them that by the time they actually arrived at Kirkwall proper, the horses were in better condition than when they'd first purchased them.

Getting Thene to leave them in the capable hands at the stable was the hardest part. He cried, sobbed, and begged his siblings to let him stay with them.

Revas soothed away his tears, promising they would visit them each morning and that their business in Kirkwall would mean that soon they'd be off again anyway with Binky and Betsy on the road.

Which is how they now found themselves in the Hanged Man with food for Thene who they settled next to the hearth while Revas and Ena themselves began to press around for information.

"Rumours you say?" Revas asked his human companion at the bar politely with a tight smile.

"Oh yeah. I thought all you knife-ears would know that story! Of the Qunari invasion. They say that an elf stopped it. The former Inquisitor no less."

"Indeed? I thought the Inquisition was long since gone. What... two, maybe three years ago?"

The old man barked out a laugh, the tankard of ale that Revas had bought him jolting on the tabletop as he slapped a withered hand on it. "Where have you been? Not even passed one year and a half yet! Sure, they're still bringing the what remains of those Qun to the markets. Statues for sale."

"I can only imagine the hefty price tag for something that... realistic, shall we say."

"Want to be for all that you put up with to get them. And now with all those elves disappearing too. You wouldn't know anything about that?"

Revas shrugged. "No idea. It sounds like a question for someone who cares about being an elf. Many disappearing from the Alienage?"

"No one has a real number. But I've heard that the higher-ups are getting antsy over it all. Not a good sign. War's coming. I've been through enough of 'em to know when it's in the air. Only a matter of time before it all kicks off."

After another round (of which Revas did not partake), he left the old man with some semblance of a friendly relationship. A source of information he could use at a later date. As it was, he had been given plenty.

Thene was asleep by the fireside when Revas and Ena arrived back, both bearing new information.

They gently coaxed their brother to their room, settling him into the bed for the night. After they set up their own spots on the floor, Revas and Enansal began to plan in earnest.

That night Enansal would roam the Fade in search of their missing target. The morning would bring another search for someone very different.


	2. Mamae

First light of their fourth day found the elven trio leaving Kirkwall behind as they set out for the distant village of Wycombe.

It would take maybe a day and a half of travel to reach their goal if they pressed on at first light and camped only late at dusk on that first day. At least that is what Revas and Enasmal surmised in the planning.

With dwindling gold as the most pressing matter, Revas made a number of hunting trips outside of Kirkwall in the intervening days, with Thene coming along as help but mostly as company.

After selling what they caught, they had enough gold for rations and water canteens, with some leftover for backup if needed - a fund to be managed by Enansal.

* * *

  
The road was long and dusty.

Thene, as he couldn't be trusted on a horse by himself, switched between riding with his twin, Revas, and their younger sister, Enansal.

Not that he minded.

With Revas, they would race and explore along the road to their sister's dismay. With Ena, he'd listen to her tell such sweet stories and would rest his ear against her back so he could listen to her steady heartbeat.

The journey was mostly quiet with the road devoid of all but the hardiest of travelers. Bandits were thankfully far and few between; those foolhardy enough to think them defenseless merely because of their elven ears and dalish-looking markings found themselves disabused of that notion rapidly. Revas's blade and spear alone left many bleeding out by the roadside.

As the burning heat of day transitioned into the cooler evening glow of twilight, the trio found a safe spot to rest and set up camp quickly and efficiently as they always did. Thene sent to somewhere close with an easy task of gathering firewood and water, Revas made the tents and started the campfire, and Ena made sure what food they had didn't kill them – a lesson learned from a previous unfortunate berry related incident.

As night finally cast its cloak of darkness over them, Revas could see just faintly in the distance what could only be Wycombe – current home of clan Lavellan and their destination.

"Do you think he'll let us stay here? This world is so clean and fresh, a-a-and alive!!" Thene muttered out from where he sat by the fireside with a belly full of dinner and the sweet treat Revas had bought for him at the markets in Kirkwall.

Revas sighed, gazing at his twin with his own heart aching. "I wish we could stay. A world mostly free of the Fade and waking nightmares. But we can't. Maybe when we get back, we can look at making our own spot free of such things."

"Babae would never let us," his brother muttered sulkily, before bursting into fits of laughter as Revas grabbed and tickled him. The pair rolled into the dirt while Ena simply sighed and went to her bedroll early to avoid being dragged into it as her bones ached enough as it was.

"No more ponderings!" Revas chuckled as he stopped the attack and hugged Thene close to him. "We'll be going home soon to Babae anyway once we get this last task completed. I bet he's losing his mind over us being missing. Mamae too when she finds out."

He felt Thene's head nod from where it was pressed against his chest above his heart.

Revas locked his gaze on the faint twinkling lights of Wycombe village and their target within before he softly sighed, "Come on. Bed for you, Thene. I'll keep watch beside you."

* * *

Revas could feel Thene's mood as his brother's magic started creeping along his arm and setting his skin into a wave of goosebumps. Without looking backward, Revas gently grabbed and squeezed Thene's ankle, feeling his brother draw from him comfort and some of Revas's stillness of mood.

The village was quiet. Too quiet to Revas's dismay. He had unseated himself from the horse, leaving Thene to remain seated while he led on foot with reins clutched tightly in his left hand.

A number of shemlen watched them with suspicion, having emerged from their housing while brandishing what tools such villagers could use in self-defense.

But what could Revas say that would give these people a semblance of ease. He knew what it looked like. Three strange elves with markings on their faces suddenly here at this village, at this time in history. Internally he cursed the Dread Wolf and those who'd disappeared to his cause for this icy welcome.

Bracing himself, Revas decided to halt the advance entirely and just ask the closest shem to him what he needed. Venturing any further into the town in search of aravels would only reduce their avenues of escape if needed.

After handing the reins to Ena and ignoring Thene's whine as he watched his brother step away from him, Revas took careful steps towards the nearest villager with hands open in supplication.

"Honoured elder, forgive my intrusion. I'm looking for Clan Lavellan. I'd heard they were here. Are they still?"

The older shem he'd asked, with a stooped back, shock of thick white hair, and nervous hands that shook the pike they held, eyed him with a wary gaze before he muttered, "Outside. About two hills over left. They set up camp near the water."

"Thank you. Here," Revas replied as he fumbled a gold piece from his pocket and flicked to the old man. "For your help. I know this isn't an easy time for anyone, especially with those... disappearing."

"Th... thank you," the shem muttered in surprise before he tipped his forehead while he gripped a lock of that snow-white hair in a small bow of appreciation.

Revas hoisted himself back into the saddle and quickly started off at a fast trot with Thene who clutched his brother close and Ena racing behind them.

* * *

Approaching the dalish camp was a far easier task thankfully.

Thene was delighted by the familiar sights and sounds, rushing as soon as he was released from the horse so he could carefully brush his hands over the well-cared-for aravels and petting the docile Halla kept not far from them.

Ena took the job of watching over him while Revas was nominated without words to speak with Keeper Deshanna.

"What brings you to us, da'len?" the older elf said with a smile as she gestured for Revas to take a seat by the fire. "Not many travel this far considering how the world is."

"I'm looking for your First, Keeper Deshanna. I had hoped you'd know where she was. The Inquisition has disappeared from what I understand and their Inquisitor with them."

Deshanna's blue orbs locked on him, narrowing at his words. "You bear no recognizable vallaslin. I do not recognize that design."

Revas watched as the keeper's eyes traced over the faint pattern that was etched at his temples but went no further.

"I'm Dalish, hahren. I keep to the old ways of the Dales."

"What of our gods do you worship? I see no allegiance on your face."

Revas peered at her intently. "Only those currently forgotten."

A familiar voice, one not heard in months to Revas's ears, spoke next from behind him. "And what does that mean, da'len?"

Revas grinned before he spun around and took in the sight of the newly arrived Ellana Lavellan, his missing Inquisitor. She was mostly as he remembered, wide blue eyes set in a delicate heart shaped face with blonde hair in braids. A face that had no vallaslin yet. At least, the vallaslin she would wear eventually.

"MAMAE!!" Thene roared out from nearby before the elf rushed himself at the dumbfounded Ellana who had no time to react as he reached out and clutched her tightly into his arms.

"Thene," Revas started as he got to his feet and attempted to free her from his brother's clutches. "Thene... Thene, let go... Thene... **Theneras**! Let go!"

His brother froze at the shout of his full name before he let go of the bemused Ellana meekly, eyes darting to Revas as he stepped back.

"My apologies, Inquisitor," Revas said. "My brother is still learning restraint."

"He called me Mamae," Ellana replied flatly, her eyes searching and scanning both of their faces for some recognizable feature.

"That's because you're our Mamae. Maybe not here," Revas replied as he gestured at the world around them in what he hoped would signal to her what he meant. "But you are in the Thedas we are from. And we need your help."

* * *

For the better part of the day, they spoke earnestly and honestly together at the fireside.

"So... you were at this new Arlathan?" Ellana queried.

"Not by choice," Revas mused. "We were supporting the last assault on Elgar'nan's stronghold. I thought we had him at long last but his mastery of the Fade is astounding. He created from nothing a labyrinth of confused perspectives, twisted paths, and even turned the very sky itself upside down. He made the world seem so... fragile."

Ellana glanced at Thene who was pressed against her, resting his head on her shoulder of her missing arm. "And your brother?"

"Was with us at the fight."

"But... he's..."

Revas gave a subdued smile, unable to hide the sadness in his eyes. "A story for another day. He's strong though and still clever. Clever enough for what is needed anyway."

Ellana sighed. "So... Elgar'nan twists the Fade, desperate to shrug you guys off, and you have found yourself here."

"Indeed."

"Are you certain he has come through too?"

Enansal spoke up. "We found him in dreams; myself and Thene both. He's here."

"And what is he after?"

Revas tilted his head. "Fen'harel, I suspect. He wants the Dread Wolf dead. Elgar'nan is not what he once was because of the Veil here but what he is will still be more than enough to crush Fen'harel, even with Mythal's strength aiding him. I'd imagine the rest of his plan will be simple. Pull down the Veil, flood the world with the Fade, and rebuild Thedas in his image with no exceptions. He just needs to take over the Dread Wolf's operation first."

"What do you need me for?"

"Bait." Revas gave a beaming smile. "And help obviously!"


	3. A Trap Carefully Laid

The small group of companions stood in a meadow with Clan Lavellan's camp in full view while they themselves had sight of all around them in order to watch for the Dread Wolf's network of spies. They'd originally met up in order to travel to Tevinter, under the guise of being Dorian Pavus's newest members of his household staff.

It had been luck or fate that Ellana had taken the opportunity that she had to visit her clan, only to find these three strangers looking for her with the knowledge that would throw their carefully laid plans to the winds.  
  


"This... this is insanity!" Cassandra spat out. "We know nothing of these would-be Dalish that have markings that none of us recognize. They could be Solas's spies for all we know!!"  
  


Ellana kept her perfect poise in the face of the still formidable Seeker's rage, with hands carefully clasped behind her back. "They speak the truth. I've... walked in their dreams, seen the Fade and spirits craft their stories. I know it to be true. They are both my children."  
  


"Even Solas told you that the Fade shows every lived and felt perspective of both real events and dreams!" was the pithy retort, one that barely concealed Cassandra's anger.  
  


"This wasn't a dream or a carefully crafted lie," the elf replied in a deliberately neutral voice. "I know it. I saw where they came from. The fall of the Veil. The burning of our world. And I saw how we saved so many from that cataclysm only to join another war on its surface."  
  


Varric squinted, sniffed his nose a little, before he decided to throw his hat into the ring and risk the Seeker's ire. "Not sayin' that this is on the level but... that blonde one looks like him. Even the same chin dimple. Your hair of course which I'd expect for one of your babes. If that is your kid I mean."  
  


"And what of the other boy? The one who is... slow," Cassandra added.  
  


Ellana bit back a harsher reply to the one she eventually gave. "I've seen his story and I know how this came to be. Don't treat him as being dumb or slow as you put it. He's a lot smarter than you give him credit for."  
  


"As enjoyable this tête-à-tête has been, I've yet to hear what they want," Dorian remarked from where he stood in a dramatic slouch nearby. "What do these Dalish need from us?"  
  


"A lure. For Solas."  
  


Varric barked out a rough laugh. "Maker, if that were easy to catch the Dread Wolf, we wouldn't be trying to enter Tevinter under Master Pavus's banner!"  
  


"He can be tricked," Ellana replied instantaneously to Varric's surprise. "But it must be covert and will imply some danger to me. They will render me tranquil."  
  


* * *

  
The silence that followed this was deafening.  
  


"Please, hear me out," Ellana began in defiance of the horrified looks on her companions' faces. "I know you may be upset at me for not disclosing this earlier but he follows my dreams. At any given time, he knows where I am, pulling that information from me each night. Nothing more of course. But if I become tranquil or a version of it, I vanish entirely from the Fade. Given enough time, they are certain he'll send out spies to locate me. When that fails-"  
  


"He'll search for you himself. To confirm if you still live or if death has found you," Cassandra finished for the elf who stood defiantly before her.  
  
  
"Exactly. They just wish to speak with him. Show him what they have shown me."  
  


"Why not in the Fade?!" Dorian blurted out. "You seem pretty convinced that he's there each night looking for you. Why not just take them into your dreams and show him there?"  
  


Ellana turned her large blue eyes on Dorian, giving him a brief pained smile. "He doesn't allow me to reach him. Fen'Harel always watches from a distance while plucking the Fade for information about where I am. He wouldn't believe me anyway. He'd need to see that they existed outside of the Fade first before he might be open to it. Anything else will be to him just spirits playing at games."  
  


Cassandra peered at her oddly. "Tranquility's an extreme we're looking at reducing, if not removing entirely. And here you are essentially looking for it."  
  


"It won't be a real version," Ellana mused. "They've promis- I mean to say I've seen that they can form a temporary disconnection that will appear as tranquility but can be reversed without requiring a desperate search for a Spirit of Faith. Lelianna and Josephine could craft a reasonable fall-from-grace story for it. There are many who would enjoy hearing that the former knife-eared Inquisitor was put in her Dalish apostate place. We let this secretive news slip into unsafe hands until it fills the Val Royeaux gossip mills to the brim. I'd just need to be hidden away at a suitable location to prove I had such a judgment rendered upon me."  
  


Varric snorted. "Let's play your game for a moment, Lavellan. If he comes for you, what do you suppose he'll do to everyone in his way? What he'll do if he finds you tranquil? I mean Chuckles as we knew him mostly kept his cool except for terrible business with Wisdom. I'd rather not see what he'd do to those he suspects of harming you. I don't think he'd stop with whoever we leave guarding you."  
  


Ellana couldn't stop the small joke that rose to the fore as she waved what remained of her left arm at the dwarf. "He'd need to start with himself first, don't you think? Not that you aren't right because I've thought of it too."

  
"As have we!" Revas's voice boomed as he disturbed the now formerly private meeting. "Thene and I are reasonably skilled with magic. We can set up convincing facsimiles of Templars and the like to strut around whatever fortress you fancy putting Mamae up in. Nothing he couldn't see through of course if he was in his right state of mind. But this plan hinges on the fact that he won't be thinking rationally when he fades-steps in. If we've done our job right and he's convinced of what he's heard, Fen'harel will focus on finding Mamae and confirming the rumors. Once he's in, we'll free Mamae from the spell and hopefully calm him enough to talk."

Dorian sneered at the young elf. "From what dear Ellana tells me, Solas is currently wielding power beyond even the Magisterium. Pray tell me how you intend on stopping him from turning where ever we pick into his personal stone garden? We don't even know if he has any limits to his power right now."

Revas glanced back over his shoulder at the nervous Thene who was now huddled behind him and peering the assembled team. "We've got an idea on that too," he replied. "But we need an answer first. You in?

* * *

Ellana sat after the meeting at the campfire, watching with a wry smile as Thene with head resting on Deshanna's shoulder listened with the most delighted smile as the Keeper recited one of her many stories. She sensed Revas's approach long before she heard him and barely blinked as he sank down beside her.  
  


"Think they'll help?" he asked with a random wave of his hand towards where the others stood in quiet but eager debate.  
  


"I don't know."

Revas peered at her oddly. "But... you're the Inquisitor right? Can't you order them?"  
  


"Former. The Inquisition doesn't exist."  
  


"Heh. Don't lie to me. You've seen what I know."  
  


Ellana finally tore her gaze away from where Thene was enjoying his stories to Revas's handsome face currently looking extremely dour and serious. "Officially there is no Inquisition. Unofficially... we're just a small group of people trying to stop a dear friend from making a terrible mistake. One that I've seen from your world."  
  


Revas shrugged. "The Veil falling had good and bad consequences. For all races in the end."  
  


"And the Evanuris running rampant across Thedas. Which race benefited from that?"  
  


"Well... Babae was trying. Got the majority of them too."  
  


Ellana shook her head lightly. "Except for the most dangerous."  
  


"Elgar'nan was never going to be an easy target. Don't use that against him."  
  


"And yet he took you both into that last war with him."  
  


Revas blinked. "Wait... I'm twenty years old! I'm more than capable of fighting my own corner. Heck, you taught me most of my more devasting moves."  
  


To that, Ellana could only burst out laughing at both the absurdity of the statement considering who Revas's father was and the earnestness with which he said it.

"What's so funny??"


	4. Empty

Ellana stared at the vial in her hand, it's silvery contents shimmering under the flickering lantern lights. Nearby, the readied hart and horses shuffled and snorted, eager to get underway.

"How much will this hurt?" she asked softly while she valiantly hid the tremor in her voice.

Enansal reached out and grabbed Ellana's free hand, holding it firmly in a strained attempt at comfort. "There should be none. It's not unheard of that some experience physical discomfort. Queasiness usually."

"And the suppression effect?"

"Immediate. Your magic will be gone and you'll be cut off from the Fade," was Revas's terse reply from where he sat nearby with his body visibly tense as a board.

They remained at the Dalish campsite as Ellana wished to remain in the comforting embrace of family as she took this step. After this was completed, they would immediately journey to a nearby former Templar stronghold that was now in the service of the Chantry.

Cassandra was there already alongside Dorian, setting aside the floors that would become her lair while they waited for the full impact of her disappearance from the Fade to take hold.

Her lips became suddenly and almost unbearable dry as she stared at the seemingly innocuous vial. Her tongue snaked out and wetted them almost unconsciously before Ellana decided it was now or never.

"Okay... I'm ready," she mused almost to herself alone.

The vial cork stopper popped out easily enough and, after a brief moment of hesitation during which she sniffed the liquid, face contorting at the very metallic twang, Ellana tipped the solution down her throat.

The change was almost instantaneous. Her throat burned, her body went from hot to cold to hot again, while her stomach churned and heaved as her very being seemed to want to reject the liquid itself.

Ellana forced herself to focus on the world around her while she physically adjusted, her body trying everything it could to forcefully expel what she'd had just taken in.

Magic had always been like a tingle, a pleasant underlying vibration that she could feel in the world around her. It's absence as her discomfort faded was startling... and horrifying. Thedas itself seemed to grow dimmer and Ellana couldn't help but think of Solas and what he had said to her so long ago now. She was experiencing a fraction of what he felt when he first emerged from his long sleep.

When her stomach stopped turning and she judged that it had accepted the liquid at last, she chanced peering up at Enansal who still had her hands in a tight grip.

"How do you feel?"

"You may have undersold the discomfort part," Ellana replied with a faint curl upwards of her lips.

She nearly jumped out of her skin as Revas's hand landed on her shoulder. "Can you try to cast a spell?"

Ellana attempted a small gesture, a minor spell she knew from childhood that would create a small mage-light to guide her way. But it never appeared. She attempted again and found nothing.

"Seems like it's worked," Revas huffed, his breath fogging in the cool twilight air. "We must get moving."

Ellana stared at her surviving right hand, turning it over and back while flexing its long delicate digits. "Yeah. Let's go."

* * *

"She's missing. Do you know where she is?"

Solas glanced up at his visitor, one of the few he didn't immediately reject or scold.

"Who is, Cole?"

"Lavellan. I wanted to find her. Show her the spirit I showed you. The words they spoke. The ripples in the world... the veil flapping and contorting. But she's not there."

Solas sighed. "She's likely just moved camp. Have you searched for her within the Fade?"

Cole anxiously paced now. "Empty. Empty and missing and wrong. No fragments. No shards. Her comforting warmth vanished. Not even a memory of a wisp of her shadow remains. Whispers of terrible things have come to me. I shouldn't tell you."

"Cole. You have told me. Just tell me the rest."

That wide-brimmed hat and pale gaunt face hidden underneath it turned to stare at him, blue eyes wide and sad.

"The Chantry people tell tales in their dreams. They can't help themselves. Stories of judgment and punishment. A world without a false Dalish Herald of Andraste."

Solas rose from his writing desk, ears twitching at the very tips in agitation."I need clarity, Cole. Not riddles. Speak."

Before the spirit could reply, a loud knock on his door snapped his attention away.

"Enter," he nearly growled, only softening his attitude somewhat when Abelas emerged.

"My lord. Forgive my intrusion but I believe that this news from Val Royeaux would interest you."

Abelas handed over the small parchment, hastily written and dispatched to them from the stains, marks, and creases that covered it.

"Thank you," Solas murmured as he briefly skimmed and took in its contents. "This... can't be..."

His head snapped up and, in strained disbelief, Solas faced Cole who merely gave a small sad nod before the spirit whispered, "They've taken her light. They've emptied out the love that overflowed. Nothing remains."

* * *

They arrived at their destination by early morning with Ellana still feeling sickly from the treatment. She just wanted rest, even the fitful dreamless sleep she knew she would experience would be enough.

Theneras had eagerly greeted her just as she stepped off the cart, hugging tightly his "Mamae" as he took to calling her.

Not that she had the heart to disabuse him of that notion. His sweet innocence was too enchanting. So as Thene walked with her to the rooms set aside for her, he eagerly relayed to her all of his hard work.

The Chantry staff were long since gone, having been immediately ordered to leave by Cassandra and, through a carefully worded missive, by the Divine herself. Thene happily regaled her with tales of his "dolls", the constructs that shimmered and moved around the fort as though it was once more full to the brim with life.

"-but they sometimes are silly. Walkthrough walls and furniture. Can't figure it out," he whined.

"I'm sure you'll get it one of these days," Ellana laughed before Revas abruptly came to her rescue and snatched Thene away for some food.

Ellana, finally alone, sank onto the meager bedding and closed her eyes. She was so very tired.


	5. Tranquility

Ellana grimaced as the tea hit her tongue. She fancied for a moment that she looked as appalled as Solas once had when forcing himself to do the same.

Since she'd disconnected herself from the Fade, everything was like ashes in her mouth. Teas that she once loved were now bitter and difficult to swallow. Foods no longer had any taste at all and instead merely became a variety of different textures she consumed. But she persevered none the less.

It had been four days since she'd taken the mixture and only three since Cassandra had stenciled the Chantry symbol on her forehead to complete the ruse.

It certainly didn't feel like such a short frame as that considering Ellana's time ended up being roughly divided between sleeping, consuming the least amount she needed to survive before she would sit and read by the blazing fire. She'd been locked away with only the most trusted having access to her. Too often her companions were too busy to sit with her, at what she could only guess at. During her more harsh moments, she fancied they busied themselves keeping the truth from her.

It was Lelianna who first gave her a small glimpse of what was going on outside the four walls of her private accommodations.

"Three Chantry officials have vanished," she had simply dropped into the middle of a strained conversation they were having about books.

"Three?" Ellana had replied stiltedly, her brain attempting to grasp both the conversation shift and the implication behind the words spoken.

"Yes...three. All close advisors to the Divine. Simply vanished from Val Royeaux."

"Who-"

Lelianna glared at her. "Please don't play coy. You know who. We had counted on as much. His agents are scouring Thedas from what we understand; from the tips of Tevinter to the far reaches of Ferelden. Bull has even sent word to Dorien of Qun intelligence missives from Orlais going astray. But more than any of that, there has been a number of clashes involving some of my own agents. I'm led to believe that the Dread Wolf is extremely upset. So much in fact that his own lackeys fear returning home empty-handed. They are willing to tangle with my agents for even the smallest scrap of information."

Ellana swallowed nervously. "Do you believe he killed those officials?"

"Killed them? I'm not sure. All three had been told by the Divine herself of your fall from grace during a private conclave. That you were rendered tranquil as punishment for your apostate transgressions. Only one knows of the rough location you are held at. If anything, I'd imagine he'd hold on to them as a bartering tool with the Chantry until you have been secured. As it is, my agents watch the woods, plains, and all the paths that led to this place. I'm sure it will not be long before they come knocking."

That pained conversation had taken place a mere day before. Since then, Ellana had been mostly alone. This day was no different.

With a body still deeply exhausted, Ellana stretched out once more on the soft furs and let herself slip into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

One day prior:

"Where is he?" Briala barked as she strode imperiously into the audience chamber. Abelas, at whom the harsh demand was directed, ignored her in favor of the map spread across the table.

Briala noted immediately where he focused. The Free Marches and a spot not too distant from Starkhaven.

"Don't ignore me," Briala hissed at the ancient elf. "Where is he?"

"Fen'Harel wanders the Fade. He'll join us when he decides," was Abelas's reply as he carefully ran his index fingers along a hastily penciled-in road.

"I was promised support! I was promised more men. They are all gone!"

Abelas's fingers paused momentarily and he quickly etched in a marker before he finally turned his gaze on the irate younger elf at his side. "For a greater purpose, I can assure you. The deal will be honored once we've found what we seek."

"His little Inquisitor _bit-on-the-side_!" Briala hissed. "He gave her up years ago! Why is he ruining the work we've done for this?! The Inquisitor will see us all burn!"

"An interesting observation. Do you believe he gave her up through weariness of her or wished to save himself from witnessing her succumb to the fate he destined her for? You joined us, did you not, for the faint hoping of saving your dear Celene?"

Briala's face contorted with rage. "For Maker's sake! Just get his dick wet and stop this madness!! I'm already under enough scrutiny in Orlais and this diversion of my forces does not strengthen my position. The Inquisitor being tranquil is a positive thing for us."

Abelas watched with a carefully neutral face as Briala froze up, stiffening visibility as Fen'Harel's deep voice echoed from behind her. "The destruction of Ellana's spirit is to no one's benefit. Least of all the elves. Certainly not mine."

Briala spun around. "Fen'Harel... I spoke out of-ugh!"

Fen'Harel stared at her with eyes of twisting and churning storm clouds as her body began to turn to stone. "No... please! I just- agh!!!" she gasped before she was consumed into the stone.

Abelas watched the entire thing with a faint amusement glinting in his shielded eyes, only moving his gaze when Fen'Harel strode past the petrified Briala and joined him at the map.

"I've worked diligently as you requested, my lord," Abelas stated before he gestured at the map and the Free Marches section he worked on prior to his interruption by Briala."I believe I've narrowed down the search to two locations – Fort Sumrit here north of Starkhaven. And here... Malicar's Keep west of Wycombe."

Fen'Harel nodded. "We try Malicar's Keep. My search in the Fade has given me little in the way of hints but I know Vhenan had been visiting Clan Lavellan's new camp outside Wycombe. She was... hoping to find a way to spare them. To rally what remains of her people against us."

Abelas glanced at his lord. "Are you sure this is wise? To see what they've done to her? Would it not be better to keep her memory evergreen and complete?"

Fen'Harel gently touched the penciled mark of Malicar's Keep. "I've considered such things while in the Fade. I gave her time. To live. To be happy. But I had always held a small hope that once my work was done that I would be reunited with her... that her and I as spirits, free of physical form, we could just.. be. They've stolen that dream from me. I would see if it's possible to return it."

Fen'Harel straightened upright once more, hands folded and clasped together behind his back. "Redirect the Orlais and Ferelden units to their previously assigned tasks. The others must meet us at the Keep."

"For when, my lord?"

"Tomorrow at twilight. And move Briala to a secured location for now. I will consider her fate once we return. Sent word to her second-in-command. She has the lead until I deem fit."  
  


* * *

One day later:

  
"Thene! Get into the room! Set up the wards!!!" Revas barked as he sprinted passed his brother. "He's here!"

Shortly after Revas had streaked past like a comet, Thene watched fascinated as the far outer wall ruptured, it's carefully worked masonry falling apart at the seams. The stone and bindings floated for a moment before being sucked out of the fortress and into the evening air at force. The entire section was gone, tossed into the countryside as though it weighed no more than a sack of feathers.

Thene let out a squeak of fear and followed his twin's path through the winding corridors until they reached the sealed room where his siblings were waiting.

Revas and Enasamal dragged him inside before sealing the doors.

Thene's eyes immediately sought out Ellana who was still slumbering peacefully despite the fortress being torn apart although he spotted shortly after the flickering ward of silence that encompassed her bed.

"Right! Wards! Get the wards up!" Ena barked to him. "We don't have much time at all!"


	6. Babae

"You don't get t- ugk!!"

Cassandra's voice was choked into silence by Solas's right hand that encompassed her throat and squeezed. The physical strength he'd hidden so well as part of his disguise as a simple apostate years ago emerged in full force as he lifted her, full plate armor and all, from the floor and pressed her against the battered stone wall.

"Lavellan's condition is your fault!"

"You.. ukkk... abandoned her!"

"And you allowed her to be made tranquil!" he spat out before Solas suddenly jerked her body forward before he slammed her back against the wall, rendering his former companion unconscious.

Solas let her body slip from his grip and settle on the floor before he turned his attention to the others. Varric and Dorien were holed up in the far side of the keep attempting some sort of distraction measure while Leilanna joined Cassandra in unconsciousness, both within this small anteroom leading to a long corridor.

"My lord... here!"

Solas took the small note from one of his agents, reviewing it briefly before striding forward with purpose.

They were close. Ellana was here. He just needed to find where. A question that he found solved a few strides later as he found a number of his agents loitering around a sealed door that, while looking the same as every other one around it, bristled with magical energies.

"We've been unable to access this, my lord," a young elf with Mythal's vassalin reported to him immediately.

Solas gently ran his hands over the frame, fingers spread out, and feeling for every strand and web of the wards placed there.

"Stand back," he growled as he located what he needed. With deft handwork, he quickly used his own magic to dig out the more convoluted and weak points in the spellcraft that kept the wards whole.

Once he had a grasp of them, Solas pushed the immense energies he wielded into a single point and shattered the wards in one move.

The feedback of his work was so intense that the Veil itself shuddered and moved, rippling outwards and knocking the unaware off their feet.

Not that Solas noticed. He was already on the move, through the door and...

"Gotcha!" came a voice to his right and before Solas could speak or reaction, a hand glowing faintly with the Fade touched his temple.

Thedas itself disappeared and he found himself an observer to a far different world.

* * *

"Distract the boy please. Fen'Harel cannot be disturbed," Briala said bruskly to Abelas, handing over the bawling child to the ancient elf with a huff of indignation.

"He appears injured. Fen'Harel would wish to know."

Briala waved her hand as if trying to swat Abelas's words away. "This meeting is too important. The children should have a nurse to care for them when they visit. I'm sick of telling him this. Just take the child to a healer and get him checked."

Revas's howls escalated as Abelas moved him further away from the closed-door where he knew his father was. Suddenly his tiny voice erupted with the only coherent word he'd said since Abelas has seen him in a devasting scream. "BABAE!!"

Briala, Abelas, and the guards in the hallway winced, barely registering when the closed-door slammed open.

"Revas? Revas!! What's happened?"

Solas strode forward and snatched the child from Abelas's arms. "You're bleeding," he muttered as the boy desperately and wordlessly showed him his bloody right foot and skinned knees.

"My lord, this meeting is so very important. Orlais's future is at stake. Please... Abelas and I can take care of-"

"Did I ask for your advice?" Solas snapped at Briala who immediately silenced herself. "Where is Thene?"

Briala, still visibly bristling, replied, "He's in your quarters, Fen'Harel. I sent him there with one of the servants to watch him while I caught up with young Revas here."

Solas kept his gaze firmly on the child in his arms, gently swaying to comfort as he had when Revas was much younger.

When the child had started to calm markedly, Solas replied in a carefully neutral voice, "The meeting will be adjourned until tomorrow. Abelas, send the delegates to their quarters. You will find me in my own. I wish to discuss this incident with you both in another hour," he added pointedly with a cold glare at his subordinates.

He left then, carrying Revas to a nearby room and settling him onto a table where he could review in more detail the damage his son had done to himself.

Tears still flowed so freely down the small reddened cherub cheeks as the little blonde elf boy with eyes of brilliant blue attempted to stifle his crying now that his father was there.

Solas held the tiny bare right foot in his hands, long lean fingers tenderly inspecting the deep jagged cut that slowly oozed out thick red blood at the sole – one that appeared after he had carefully removed a particularly nasty looking nail from where it had embedded itself in Revas's tender flesh. The faint glow of magic emitted from his fingertips, soothing the boy's pain and allowing his father the freedom to examine the damage.

"Oh, da'len. How did this happen?"

"I was runnin'-" the boy hiccuped. "An'-an'... an' I ran passed the stables. Then I fell down 'cause it went in my foot!"

Solas turned his head toward the dull rusty nail he'd pulled out, a relic clearly from some random horse or hart shoeing that occurred sometime before.

"I thought we had agreed on no bare-feet in the courtyard. Let me first clean this up," Solas said softly. "Your Mamae will be very mad with me when she comes to fetch you."

Small Revas burst into tears again, causing Solas to break off from his task and return to cuddle him. "Oh don't cry. Your Mamae usually has many reasons to be mad at me. This will just be one of many."

"I don't want anyone to be mad!" Revas sobbed, burying his face in his father's tunic.

Solas ran a fond hand through the thick blonde hair that covered Revas's head before he pressed a kiss firmly on his crown. "Anger is normal, Revas. And not always a bad thing. Now... let's get this tidied up and then maybe you'd like to sit with me and your brother for awhile upstairs."

* * *

Solas slumped to his knees, brain and heart thrown completely into disarray. He felt that. It was real. Or was real? He wasn't quite sure.

Before him, he could make out Ellana sleeping on an old crooked bed, covered by tattered blankets and furs.

Between them stood three elves, strangers to him. As his eyes refocused, he realized he knew one of them. "Revas?" he sputtered out.  
  
The blonde elf with eyes of glittering blue smiled. "Hey, Babae. We need your help."


	7. Reunion

"Creators..."

Ellana breathed out in between violent wretches that racked her slight frame as she vomited out the grey concoction given to her only days before. With each expulsion, the world around her started becoming brighter and brighter. The Fade and her connection to it was returning.

Over time, Ellana became dimly aware of a large steadying hand on her back that stroked her as though she was a newborn _Halla_ about to run for the forests. The hand's partner had a firm grip on her loose hair which pulled them back gently from her face as each new round of vomiting struck her.

"How're you holding up?"  
  
Ellana peered up slightly from where she was slumped over the wooden bucket, finding herself face to face with Revas who'd crouched down to the floor to check on her.  
  
"I... wish I'd... listened when you said how sick this would make... me."  
  
The hand on her back stopped, gently tapped her spine, before it then restarted its stroking. This time she could feel the warm tingling rushing her body that she associated with magic. Healing too to her relief as the nausea which afflicted her began to finally ease off.

Ellana glanced over her shoulder and blinked, her brain stuttering as she registered it was Solas who was caring for her. "Not how I thought we'd meet again," she whispered. "Holding my hair back as I vomit."  
  
To her surprise, Solas closed his eyes briefly before he quickly leaned forward and pressed a kiss firmly on her shoulder blade covered by thin fabric belonging to the flimsiest tunic Ellana had ever worn.

"Jokes aside," Solas mused as he hovered so close to her skin that his breath caused her to break out in goosebumps, "... I thought you were gone. Destroyed. You've no idea how relieved I am despite the trick you have all played on me."

"Tricking the great Trickster," Ellana replied softly. "Might be bad for your reputation if this gets out."

Solas's hand dropped lower until it rested on her lower back. "I'll keep that in mind. Do you think you can move?"

"I can try."

* * *

"I notice that you don't seem surprised, Chuckles," Varric remarked.

They sat around the small dining table after Revas had gone once more over the situation they found themselves in. Solas had stood with hands clasped behind his back at the head of the table, listening intently while giving no hint of his internal thoughts.

Solas turned his gaze to the dwarf. "I merely ponder on the possibilities, Master Tethras."

"You've got two possibilities right over there," Dorian snorted with a jerk of hand towards Revas and Thene.

"And?"

"And maybe you should reconsider your current plans."

Solas smirked. "They exist despite the Veil falling. If anything, this reinforces that I must undo the sundering and fix this mutilated world. That the sacrifice I believed required is in fact not quite so... harrowing as I once believed." As he spoke, his gaze flickered over Ellana before locking onto the twins who were watching the discussions with interest.

Ellana got to her feet with a struggle, planting her right arm onto the table to support her unsteady body as she rose. "Let's refocus. Elgar'nan is out there, baying for blood after thousands of years trapped in the Fade. He's here and he's powerful. More than you," she added with a wave at Solas. "And more than anyone else at this Creator's damn table."

She rubbed what remained of her left arm, the phantom pain she'd experienced ever since she'd lost the limb riling her. "We must set aside our differences for now. Help defeat Elgar'nan and find a way to send them home. Then... we can discuss futures."

"Cole can help us."

Once more, everyone's gaze locked onto Solas. "Cole and other spirits have found the Fade disrupted. I was to investigate once I had dealt with... other more pressing matters. It seems to me that our interests are aligned at the minimum to find Elgar'nan. I propose we start our cooperation there."

* * *

Ellana sat quietly on the wall, resting her left side against the stone so it chilled the nub of her left arm. She sighed with relief as the cold eased the ever-present itch.

The night sky was particularly brilliant to her eyes. Or perhaps that was her renewed connection to the Fade that was highlighting its beauty. She took in a deep cleansing gulp of cold fresh air, relishing in the feeling not being so muted as it was before.

A soft blanket suddenly draped itself over her shoulders and a firm hand gently touched her left shoulder, magic flowing to stop the annoying itch entirely. She was not surprised at all when Solas sank down to sit beside her on the stone.

"Hey," she greeted numbly. "Ma serannas."

He smiled a strange muted version that only slightly turned the edges of his full lips upwards before it vanished swiftly under the weight of his thoughts. "I noticed inside that it troubles you still. Ir abelas, vhenan. I've mutilated you as much as I did the world so many years ago. I fear everything I touch is... _Fenedhis_."

"Tel’abelas, Solas. If you hadn't taken the limb then I'd be dead by now. Likely dying alone somewhere in the wilderness where no one would be harmed. They'd be describing in the legends how I exploded too young. Undoubtedly a far more exciting version of my life, all writ down by Varric no less."

Solas barked out a short laugh before he reached out and took her remaining hand in his. "So... twins, eh."

"I know. My father was a twin so I'm not too surprised. Apart from their existence I mean," she chuckled lightly before she spied Enasamal strolling through the garden below carrying a basket full of herbs just freshly picked. "And an adopted daughter too. A family."

Solas nodded. "All Dalish."

He didn't need to look at Ellana's face to know she was beaming at that. "I know," she finally replied. "Revas is very like you. Not quite as bookish."

"Hmm. And Thene..."

"I know. Did they explain what happened to him?"

Solas nodded before he glanced at Ellana. "Of course. Have you told Dorian is the question."

The sudden stiffness in her body told him all he needed.

"Ah. So no then."


	8. Bartering Hurts

A strained and strange impasse Josephine would have called it.

 _I wonder how she's doing_ , Ellana pondered while she stared out at the full courtyard; one side teaming with Fen'Harel's agents, the other with the Chantry and Free Marches forces.

She sighed once more as her body shivered in time with the exhale. Her missing arm was still plaguing her. Not with the indomitable itch but instead with tingles and spasms as her body continued expelling the last of the liquid that she's consumed.

Revas has seemed confident that she'd be totally free by the end of the week and she was in no mood to push it as it was. The unsteady truce below was proof enough of how she needed to completely ready for whatever comes next.

Above her floor, Ellana could hear the disagreements breaking out over the impromptu war-table. She'd been invited of course – at one stage she was nearly dragged there by Solas himself. But she'd steadfastly refused.

Ellana was still trying to find her center, trying to reconnect to her magic and the Fade. She wanted to feel whole. At least as whole as she could be considering everything that had happened over the years since Haven and the Breach.

With exhaustion, she sank down to sit with her legs through the balustrades while she rested her head on the cold stone of the balcony.

She'd just closed her eyes with her left cheek pressed to the cold stone when her keen ears registered the doors slamming open and new guests arriving in a flurry of anger and discontent.

"Insanity!" spat Solas. "I'm ashamed to say that I'd expected better from Cullen. The man has no guile! No subtlety! No bloody finesse!"

Ellana laughed quietly to herself, listening as an outsider as Solas gave a through and very unflattering critique of poor Cullen to Revas.

"To be fair to him, he was raised by religious zealots," Revas replied drolly. " He gets better with age I found."

Solas snorted. "Must we really wait twenty odd years for a version of the man who can imagine wielding force as a delicate knife and not as a bludgeon?"

Ellana could almost see Revas rolling his eyes at that before she realized that they both had gone silent. She near jumped clean out of her skin as a warm hand landed on her shoulders.

"Are you alright?" Solas's face appeared to her side, looking decidedly concerned with deep worry lines creasing his forehead.

"I'm fine. Just tired. I was enjoying the fresh air until I noticed all of them."

Solas peered down to where the two sets of forces kept themselves separate, an impromptu no man's land having arisen between them.

"Ah," he replied. "A necessary evil I fear."

"It wouldn't be if you'd stop trying to take down the Veil and maybe consider other options."

Solas carefully ignored her words as he wrapped her up in his arms and hoisted Ellana up onto her feet.

"There's a far more comfortable seat here, vhenan. One more deserving of you than the cold stone," he added charismatically while maneuvering her into a thick cushioned seat covered in rich blue fabric, a leftover relic from another era when this fortress had a purpose other than Chantry work.

"Liar," she murmured, ignoring his flinch at her words and turning her gaze back out the window. "Meeting went well I see."

Revas shrugged. "As well as it could. Wariness was expected."

"Too true," she replied softly. "I'd like to discuss what happened now but I think I will be poor company tonight. Only sleep for me today."

Ellana rose as smoothly as possible, adjusting her tunic that started to ride up slightly too high before she took one step away and was immediately halted.

Solas had an iron grip on her stump, all that remained of her left arm. She could feel the tingle of his mana as he pumped whatever healing he believed she needed into the lump of useless flesh.

"Yes?" she said softly.

"Do you need assistance? You seem unwell still."

"I'm fine. Good night, Solas," Ellana replied as she carefully unwound his hand from her stump and stepped away lightly. "Good night, Revas. Make sure Thene rests tonight."

The younger elf gave her a warm smile before nodding.

Ellana slipped away quietly, padding down the hallway almost completely unnoticed en route to her room.

She'd barely touched the door, her remaining hand hovering over the burnished metal handle when she realized that Solas had followed her.

Ellana half turned her head to face him. "Yes, Solas?"

She'd never seen him so concerned. Not even during the height of the Inquisition. With brow furrowed and eyes flickering over her face as if trying to read her very soul.

"You're... Will you allow me to help you?" he asked.

Ellana gave a strained soft chuckle and shook her head. "I'm supposed to be saving you."

"I believe that we could work an arrangement. Let us help each other."

She stared into Solas's eyes. "Will you stop what you plan?"

Ellana knew. She knew he wouldn't... that he almost couldn't at this stage. Still, the way her heart sank like a rock as he told her no was not pleasant.

She gave an even weaker half-smile in return. "Then no, Solas. I'll just keep carrying this. Thank you and goodnight."

Ellana slipped away from him, sliding behind the wooden door and sealing it firmly.

* * *

Revas stretched out leisurely where he sat before the dying fire in the ornate fireplace, head tilting in confusion as Solas arrived back to the room in a somewhat more somber mood. Well, more somber as it were for him anyway.

"Didn't go well?"

Solas took the seat opposite him, eyes locked on the slowly glowing embers within the grate.

"So... not well then."

"Ellana does not require my assistance tonight," was Solas's eventual reply.

Revas shrugged. "Fair enough."

"She'd rather suffer than accept my aid."

"Now that's a big leap," Revas chuckled. "What did she say?"

Solas flickered his gaze to the young elf before him. "She asked would I turn from my path."

"And you said no. She then said no to you in return. Turned a gesture of kindness into a mess of misunderstandings and angst. Lovely! Thought I was past going through that dance with you two."

Revas watched as Solas turned the full intensity of his stare on him.

"Tell me more."

"More what?"

"More of your world. Did it work? Did I fix my mistakes? Did I save the People?"

Revas pondered his words carefully. "It... depends on your point of view. The Fade is hit and miss of course. There but sometimes you just wish it wasn't."

He snorted. "For the rest, well, on one hand, you restored Elvhenan and Arlathan. On the other, you could never reconcile the Thedas elves of today with the elvhen you remember."

"But you are elvhen. You are living proof that not only do the elves of today survive but they can be restored into the People."

Revas gave a sympathetic smile. "I'm not elvhen, Babae. Not even being your child could change that. I know that right now the past seems too shiny and glorious. Your version of the People in your mind so much better and advanced than what you see in this world. But I and Thene could never live among _your_ People. We weren't pure enough. We weren't elvhen. Those you surround yourself with don't get treated any better than the slaves you sought to free. They just didn't have chains around their necks. As for surviving the fall of the Veil? The reason so many survived? That was Mamae and the others. Listen, yo-"

The young elf stopped and shot up from his chair. Solas followed his lead, hearing what he heard.

"That's-"

"-a dragon," Solas finished, staring out at the night sky and the distinct blast of dragon fire in the distance.


	9. Wolves

"GET DOWN!!"

The blast of dragon fire surged overhead, drawing the very air from Revas's lungs and cutting short his desperate shout to the forces scattering in the courtyard.

Elgar'nan hit the fortress directly, skimming past at speed before moving off a short distance to turn around for another run.

Solas was already moving as soon as the golden dragon passed by, leaping the balcony railing and landing deftly in the courtyard. Revas spared only the briefest of glances down and spotted him rallying the troops and directing the mages in erecting barriers to defend against the incoming onslaught.

Revas turned his attention to the surprised and unprepared within the fortress itself.

* * *

"Keep those barriers up! Those without magic, keep the lyrium flowing to those that need it!" Solas shouted. "Archers! Get ready to loose a volley at my word! Focus on the dragon's wings. Easily torn and will help force it to ground."

He glanced over at the unsure forces of what was normally his opponents. "Heed my words, shemlen! We can pick up our disagreement another day. For now, we must be brothers-in-arms against the dragon!"

"Follow his instructions for now," came a distant roar as Cullen emerged from the burning fortress with more forces at his side. "We fight or die here together!" the human added with a distinct glance of disgust at Solas who brushed it off like it was mere dust dirtying his clothes.

With a careful wave of his hand, Solas discreetly called a scout to his side and rapidly gave a series of coded instructions to a young elf who nodded to confirm he understood before bolting from the fortress and disappearing into the countryside.

"I would prepare your forces, Cullen," he remarked to the former Templar scowling at him intently, "rather than aiming your stare at me."

"You had my trust once, wolf," the sandy-haired human spat at him, "but then you did wear the guise of a better man. Look where that lapse in judgment got us? A maimed world and a maimed Ellana. I should never have trusted you at all, let alone allow the little dalliance between you both to occur. A failing I will not let happen again."

Solas's anger flared. "Oh? You allowed it, did you? And how do you believe you would have stopped it?"

"Refocus yourself, traitor," was Cullen's cutting reply as he turned his attention back skyward at the rapidly approaching dragon. "Your blasted history is here in the flesh to destroy us all."

* * *

Ellana hid her face from the flames, only slightly registering Thene dragging her away from the roaring fire that burned uncontrollably through the floor she was on.

"This way!!" Thene whimpered near her ear, the smoke and fire cleary scaring him as much as Ellana herself.

She clung to his arm as he seemed to know the way out. A dimly lit and smoke-filled walk through two hallways and one battered door led them to a collapsed outer wall showing them the countryside and desperately needed fresh air.

Ellana could finally see Thene fully and had to stop herself from cuddling him immediately. His wonderful auburn hair was singed and almost black with soot, his face and clothes ashen with debris while his beautiful blue eyes shimmered with tears – from fear or smoke irritation she could not say.

"We gotta go!" he gasped urgently following one of his many deep breaths he took to clear his lungs.

"Wait! Where is Revas and Ena? And the others?"

Thene motioned down. "They're out. Mostly. I ran away to get you! But... it's very high."

Ellana glanced over the edge where he gestured. "I see a ledge. We could try and jump but it's so far."

"I can make it with you on my back," the young elf said resolutely after judging the scale of the leap needed.  
  
"Thene, let-"

Ellana froze as Thene suddenly shifted his shoulders before he became something else entirely.

* * *

Revas arrived at the courtyard with Ena and those remaining in tow. Everyone else was scattered away from the building itself as the fight with the dragon was now dragged out into the countryside.

The shem with them, the last stragglers of Chantry forces, gasped and shrieked in surprise as a giant grey wolf, standing larger than a northern Hart, landed among them with a huff.

"Really? We made a promise, Thene," Revas sighed before he noticed the passenger. "Mamae! I thought you went out the other door."

Ellana peered down at them, clearly dazed and confused. "I was going to but the fire was too fast. Thene came for me."

The wolf lay down on his belly, letting Ellana slide to the ground with ease before retaking his feet and whimpering at Revas.

"We can't. Two wolves against a dragon is insane. Especially here," Revas remarked to his brother, trying to ignore the added snarls and whimpers.

He sighed before frowning. "Perhaps... we could lead him on a merry chase instead. Give the forces time to recover and escape."

Revas turned his gaze on Ellana and Enansal. "You need to get Fen'Harel out of here. With his forces. Tell him to seal his eluvians and recall his agents from the field. We'll distract Elgar'nan for as long as we can."

* * *

On the battlefield, Cullen was looking decidedly exhausted. Fen'Harel's forces were spread out, attempting to shield as much of the field as possible with their magic while the archers from every force here were firing as much as possible.

But time and arrows were running short. So short in fact that the knights and warriors with poor accuracy were now running to retrieve what arrows could be reused, with their shields on their backs to fend off stray arrows that drifted their way.

The dragon, this Elgar'nan that they all seem so convinced it was, made a move then that confounded his military mind. He landed.

The golden dragon, with flame so hot that it would put the glorious Maker's sun to shame, somewhat gracefully placed all four limbs on the scorched earth and roared. With tattered wings folded back against its lean body, the long equine snout with glowing amber eyes turned and focused on Solas.

"Fen'Harel," came a deep rumbling voice from the dragon's throat.

If Cullen had not been physically present himself, he would not have believed such a thing possible.

"Elgar'nan," Solas shouted from behind his barrier supplemented by other mages in his guard. And so began a conversation in elvish that Cullen could not understand but the tone he recognized immediately.

The dragon's voice was full of rage and anger while Solas's dripped with insulting condescension and mirth.

The talk reached a crescendo as this Elgar'nan's anger built up to the expected explosion. The dragon's head reared back and he prepared to soak the battlefield in flames once more.

But before he could do so, the dragon let out a shriek of pain and then irritation.

A giant wolf, with shimmering grey and golden fur, had latched itself onto the dragon's back and clamped its jaws on the base of the long neck.

Clearly not strong enough of a bite to kill but definitely to irritate. Before the dragon could even attempt to remove the beast attacking it, another wolf appeared and grabbed the folded left-wing violently, shaking and tearing the delicate membrane with spurts of blood coating the burned soil.

Both wolves worked in tandem, spinning around the clunkier and less graceful dragon.

Keeping one step ahead of the dragon's jaws and flame, the pair tore and snapped whatever they could get a grip of. Before long, they'd successfully harrassed Elgar'nan enough to force the dragon back into the air.

As the dragon's wings beat and somehow managed to get its huge body airborne, the wolves took off running.

First they bolted through the battlefield, sparing not even one glance at any of the confused soldiers on the field.

Once near the distant edge of the treeline, they broke apart and took off in opposite directions through the forest while the dragon, shouting some elvish curses that even Cullen recognized from his time in the Circles, took after them.

* * *

Revas ran blindly as the forest burned around him.

In other circumstances, he'd be begging the forest spirits forgiveness for leading the source of the flame this way and causing such destruction. But he had no time to think of anything other than the next turn or desperate double back to escape the dragon chasing him.

Shortly after he split from Thene, Revas had done all he could to focus Elgar'nan on his trail and not his brother's. He made himself terribly visible, running erratically back and forth until he was sure that Elgar'nan saw him only.

The fire licked at his tail and hindlegs as the dragon swooped low and bellowed out flame directly behind him. He desperately flung himself sideways, a gamble to escape what was certain and very crispy death. The wolf rolled uncontrollably down the steep tree-covered hillside before coming to a halt by slapping into a rigid tree.

Revas could barely get on his paws, his entire body trembling with the effort as he realized from the way his chest cracked and ached with pain that he likely broke ribs in the effort to escape.

He tilted his head upwards, ears twitching as he listened for the dragon roaring. Elgar'nan was blasting the canopy with fire, unable to spot him in the dense thicket he found himself near. That wouldn't last long Revas realized as he began to hobble away.

He snuck down low on his furry belly and began to shuffle as fast as possible across the thick brush back the way he came. If lucky, he might somehow make it back to where he promised to rendevous with the others by the next morning without the dragon finding him.

A sudden sharp pain in his side as he touched his chest against a firm root caused him to collapse completely.

Revas gave up the pretense, shifting back into an elf as he lay on his back in pain.

Breathing was getting worse he realized as blood now started to sputter out of his mouth with each haggard exhale.

He dragged himself somewhat upright, to slouch across a nearby tree and it's large deep roots. Blood was beginning to dribble now unbidden from his wounded flesh.  
  
"I hope..." he gasped out loud to himself before his train of thought was completely lost from a coughing fit that spewed blood out into his hands.

He stared at the thick red liquid dully as his ears took note only of the distant enraged roars of a dragon still seeking its prey.

"Revas!!"

He blinked and turned his head. As familiar gentle hands began to fiddle with his tunic and get access to where he was hurt the most, Revas gave a heartbreaking smile.  
  
"Babae... you're here..."


	10. A Moment of Peace

Ellana hovered nervously at the hidden junction within the woods, with Enansal not too far from her in both distance and anxiety level.

Nearly two hours had passed since the assault of Elgar'nan on the fortress and the disappearance of the wolf twins as they lead the dragon away.

Solas had promptly ignored what Revas had given Ellana to tell him, instead he moved his forces back to their previous posts across Tevinter and the Free Marches while Cullen had been more circumspect and had taken the opportunity to get his own troops entirely out of harm's way.

Ellana had only a few brief moments to say her goodbyes to Cassandra and Cullen as they led their troops to safety.

Lelianna chooses to remain at her side, along with Dorien and Varric. Solas too much to her chagrin although she knew not how long that would last.

So the small group of six stood waiting for the return of their missing companions.

"The noise has ceased," Dorien commented. "It appears Elgar'nan has been sufficiently distracted as to move off entirely."

Solas gave a small grimace from where he leaned against a nearby tree. "He would only do so if... well, let us wait and see."

"No. Finish what you were about to say," Ellana snapped. "When would he let up?"

Solas's grey eyes meet her brilliant blue with worry furrowing his brows. "If he had succeeded in defeating his enemy. Elgar'nan was always persistent to the point of obsession."

A deep and abiding silence fell over the group.

Ellana chose to move away, taking a seat at the base of a tree that gave her a good view over the pathway coming from the direction she expected the twins to return from. Ena took a spot beside her and the two talked to each other quietly, offering words of reassurance and comfort even though both felt the keen edge of fear within themselves.

* * *

The first they heard was a rustling.

Then a whimpering and keening as Thene burst out of the undergrowth.

He bounced on all four paws, tail wagging and ears folded at the most adorable angles as Thene gave his entire attention and excessive physical affection to another. His companion wolf was not Revas, that much was clear.

With fur mostly black but dappled in areas with a dark red, it stood easily taller than Thene with eyes of a steely grey. On its back was an exhausted Revas who clutched his ribs with one arm and held tightly to the wolf's scruff as it moved.

"Revas!!" Ellana gasped as she blindly rushed forward.

"I'm fine," he mused softly. "My ribs took a battering but I'm mostly still intact."

Ellana suddenly became aware of a large wet nose touching her arm as the black wolf sniffed and gently pushed at her.

"Mamae, meet Babae. Babae, I think you remember Mamae," Revas added quietly with a distinct smirk as he slumped forward to rest on his father's neck.

"We have very little time for introductions," growled the wolf, Solas's voice coming from its canine snout in a manner that disconcerted Ellana. "I need you to get on my back and secure Revas for the journey. He's nearly slipped off several times."

The Dread Wolf's head turned and found his own twin, this other Solas clad in scorch marked armor and observing everything with a keen interest. "The nearest eluvian. Where is it?"

Solas blinked. "And why would I tell you?"

"I suspect it is the eluvian set at the ruins of the former barracks just shy of Arlathan forest but I'd prefer not to have to travel such a distance," growled the wolf in return. "Revas needs medical aid. I've patched up what I can but I need a quiet spot to finish my work and allow him to rest. Now... is there an eluvian closer?"

Solas pondered his options for a moment before he gestured lightly to his right. "I had a gate created just to the east of here. A temporary measure for my work. Typically I have them dismantled after a few days but this one should still be operational for now at least."

"Can you lead us there?" Ellana asked while she attempted to seat herself behind Revas who was no help to her in his current state.

Solas wandered over in silence before he suddenly grabbed her hips and threw her upwards onto the wolf's back.

"I can," he replied after Ellana managed to get astride the wolf. "Once within the network, where do you intend on going?"

"Skyhold will do. Or somewhere quiet in Fereldan," his other self replied. "Elgar'nan's on a pretty chase across to the far shores of Par Vollen. We need time to regroup."

The Dread Wolf seemingly seemed to spot Enansal at long least, and eagerly nuzzled the young elf.

"My dear dah'len! You're safe and well! It gladdens my heart to see you," he grumbled before he pushed her towards Thene. "Carry Enansal if you don't mind. We may have a long trek ahead."

* * *

Ellana sank down to sit on the cold marble floor while Revas was being tended to by his father.

The trip to the eluvian, through it, and now to this elvhen ruin hidden deep within Fereldan wilderness had taken hours. Her thighs and arm were so sore and weary that she nearly collapsed entirely upon her first touching the ground under her own power.

It was Solas who had caught her. Not her Solas although he had made a move towards catching her. This one had a full head of thick dark copper hair tightly braided back from his face. A certain weariness seemed bedded into the still youthful face while she noticed a new scar that lingered at his left temple.

His strength was formidable. In one arm, he held a delirious Revas upright while with the other he caught Ellana.

"You alright?" he hummed, that voice causing her skin to break out into goosebumps. Ellana had merely nodded before repositioning herself upright.

Right now the focus was on Revas. His chest was riddled in dark blotching, bruises in every shade of vibrant blacks, blues, and purples crisscrossing his chest. Thene hovered anxiously as his father worked, long lean fingers skimming the surface and seeking each break and fracture.

A shadow fell over where Ellana sat and she peered up at Solas. Her Solas at least who offered her a hand.

"Come. Leave them to their work. This will take hours."

"I should stay. Help," she replied weakly.

"You're no help to anyone in your current state. Rest now and when their strength begins to flag, you will be ready to take over the work."

Ellana could not deny the logic in his words and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet.

"There's a room not far from here. Warm and with soft furnishings," Solas murmured as he directed her firmly through the warren-like ruin with a hand placed on her lower back.

"I thought this place abandoned? I mean its a ruin."

"Ah. Well, it would be a poorly hidden lair if it could be seen as occupied from passers-by, " Solas chuckled. "One of my many tricks."

Ellana found herself too tired to probe and prod for more information. He wouldn't tell her anyway. Solas had moved her to a relatively innocuous elvhen mosaic before pressing a series of symbols that caused the wall to shudder and move aside.

Ellana's breath caught in her throat but Solas pushed her forward nonetheless. He clearly was impatient to settle her within.

The room was quite grand she found. Large and spacious, with a dip in the floor that clearly acted as a bath. The bed itself was flat to the floor, the frame made of exquisitely carved marble while it was smothered in thick soft fabrics and furs.

Solas clicked his fingers, activating low lights and starting a small magical fire in the ornate fireplace she hadn't seen until the darkness had lifted.

"It's lovely, " she croaked. "Nice to have such boltholes."

"You've slept in too many stables, vhenan," Solas rumbled. "Come. The bed will soothe your sores away."

Ellana stalled at his gentle pull. "I shouldn't trust you," she mumbled.

"True," he answered after a moment of silence. "But right now I've no other motive to want you to rest other than I wish you to be well."

"So I can experience the destruction of my world in perfect clarity?" Ellana laughed pitifully as she withdrew her hand from his and slumped down on the bed. She kicked off her boots and rolled over so her back was to Solas.

He said nothing but she expected that. Ellana scrunched her eyes closed tightly and let out a breath. Her ears picked up the sound of shuffling, fabric, or leather rustling before the bed sank behind her as another weight joined her.

Large warm hands crept around her before pulling her back so she was flush against Solas himself.

"For just this moment," he whispered. "Let us pretend that the world is not what it is and that we are just Solas and Ellana. Not people on opposite sides of a war but... just us."

She couldn't stop the stray tears that leaked from her eyes that ran hotly down her cheeks and wetted the downy pillow that held her head.

"Alright," she choked out, closing her eyes desperately as Solas pressed soft kisses to the curve of her neck with a sigh.


	11. A Different Wolf

"How long since..." Solas gestured with his free hand at the stump covered by the folded sleeve of Ellana's tunic.

"Oh," she mused while blinking rapidly as her brain scrambled for the answer. "Nearly two years. Shy of it by about four months."

Ellana could feel her cheeks begin to flush red as Solas with his full head of thick auburn hair gave her a dazzling smile. "Ahh. I should have known. You're not at the 'very disappointed in me' stage yet."

She couldn't stop the sly grin that tugged at her lips, her cheeks getting only redder as she watched his eyes trace her full lips with blatant desire.  
  
"I hope that stage doesn't last long," she quipped back lightly, attempting to find stable ground once more for this strange conversation with this version of Solas.

"Ongoing I'm afraid. About sixteen years at last count."

And just like that, Solas had torn the rug out from under her feet.

"Sixteen years?" Ellana echoed in disbelief. "I would hope that I wouldn't hold on to my anger for so long."

"I did a lot to reach that stage, vhenan. Your feelings were and are not without very righteous cause."

"Still, I-"

Solas gently touched the tip of her nose, causing her flush to explode from her cheeks to her entire face. "Don't doubt yourself. Not here. This is... another world and another me. Trust when I say that I deserve all the distrust and none of the kindness shown to me," he mused, something glinting in his eyes.

Ellana was a little bit dumbstruck at it all.

From early that morning when she found herself quite alone in the bed she'd shared with Solas to when she'd met this version of someone she still loved, Ellana's world was reeling.

Firstly, he offered her tea. Not just any tea but one she'd never even told him about considering how much he hated the beverage in general. And then he'd drank some himself, declaring that it was one of the very few he could tolerate.

Now he was relentless flirting, his emotional state easily readable when Ellana was used to having to navigate them like she would treacherous waters considering how often her Solas would tailor what he expressed in order to use them against her.

"How is Revas?" she quickly blurted out, desperate to try and move attention away from her burning cheeks.

"Better!" was the laughing reply. "My son near drained me twice over of my mana and my sanity. But he lives and with all his body parts intact. He requires some bed rest but I fear that may be a step too far for him."

"Oh?"

Solas peered at her before he gave a sly smirk. "You used to say that he had... itchy feet?"

Ellana laughed softly. "Ahhh. I see."

"He's always been a restless soul. When he was a younger child, it was less of a struggle to contain him."

Ellana nodded before leaning back in her seat and sighing. There was so much she wished to ask, to say... but where to begin eluded her.

"You seem troubled. I imagine there is much you wish to ask. So many questions littering that brilliant mind of yours," Solas said softly, his voice carrying over the dusty silence of the room. "Please. Ask anything you wish."

* * *

He'd left her side before dawn. She'd been deep in dreamless slumber, one he'd made sure to place her in before he'd slipped away to his agents.

The work must continue and now at a faster pace. Gathering what he needed for breaking the Veil was nearly accomplished with the exception of some more delicate objects.

Solas had delayed their retrieval due to the very nature of the artifacts themselves but now he needed them urgently.

Elgar'nan being here was a problem more intrinsic to his plans than anything the Inquisition or the mortal nations of Thedas had thrown his way so far.

And so he'd left Ellana's side before slipping through another hidden compartment to begin sending orders.

After some time passing and all his newly minted orders having been despatched, Solas returned to find the bed empty. Its sheets were cold so not a recent abandonment either. He bit back a sigh of frustration.

The small spell he's weaved to keep Ellana from dreaming had been designed to keep her rested for longer but clearly he'd underestimated how long he would need.

Solas quickly took to the search. Keeping Ellana from using her inquisitive mind to ferret out his altered plans was critical now, especially in light of the new arrivals and the revelations around their very nature.

He'd pondered abstractly long ago about potentially saving Ellana from the firestorm of war that would follow the Veil's collapse. Those plans were still among his papers, always within arms reach, and Revas had helpfully confirmed just days prior that they were successful.

It was essential to keep her within arms reach of either himself or his agents.

His labored thoughts on the subject were quietly scrambled when he finally stumbled upon her location.

She was deep in an almost mumbling conversation with... himself.

The Dread Wolf who'd fathered Revas and Thene was sitting beside her on a rickety wooden bench, both of their bodies angled towards itself intimately while he held her hand and whispered words to her ears only.

Ellana for her part was flushed with blue eyes shimmering a strange mix of concentration and attraction.

He nearly growled. A knot of jealousy, something in his long life he'd only ever experienced with Ellana, started to grip him. Solas mentally berated himself. He was jealous of himself. How much more existential could he get.

"Good morning," he bellowed loudly, his lips tugging upwards at the edges as he saw Ellana jump while his other self merely tilted his head towards him.

"Morning," Ellana hastily replied before getting to her feet. She turned to her companion. "Perhaps we could continue this later?"

"Of course. My pleasure," his other self laughed before he dramatically snatched her hand and kissed it gently. "I must check on Revas."

"Where were you?" Ellana asked him shortly after the other wolf left the room, taking the lovely glimmer in her eyes with him apparently while she peered at Solas suspiciously.

"Some minor matters needed attending. You slept well?"

Ellana nodded. "Dreamlessly. And I'd been seeking dreams so I'd imagine that was your doing."

He gave her a slight smirk. "Forgive me but I felt you needed rest after recent events. How are you feeling? Have you been experiencing any issue with your magic returning?"

She waved her remaining hand dismissively at his concern. "It's fine so far. I must go. The others should be waiting outside."

Solas grabbed her arm as she attempted to push past him. "Before you do, what is your planned next step?"

"You mean apart from tracking down an extremely angry and powerful dragon who is actually Elgar'nan in the flesh?" she replied incredulously before she caught herself. "... sorry. The barbs just flow easier in your presence apparently. To be honest, we'll be reconvening for a meeting once Revas wakes. I'd imagine you should be confirming you still control the eluvians and your organization as a whole."

Solas released her arm carefully. "Ah, well of that I'm currently reassured. There lies a small study just to the right, not far from the statue of Mythal. When it's time I can be found there."

He carefully folded his hands behind his back as he watched her walk away from him. It will be difficult he realized, but not impossible.

* * *

"How are you feeling?"

Revas opened one bleary eye as he registered the rapid elvish was directed at him.

"Only a headache if I don't move. Or breathe," he replied, the once archaic language flowing from his lips just as fluently as his father's.

Solas smiled warmly, brushing away strands of sweat laden blonde hair from Revas's face.

"Despite my current limitations, I can ease that suffering at least," was his Babae's answer as Solas hovered his hand over the heavily bandaged chest and directed what healing he could.

"Better?"

Revas nodded before he dragged himself suddenly upright and gripped his father in a tight embrace while steadfastly ignoring his pain.

"It's alright, little one," Solas crooned, gently rubbing Revas's back as he felt his son's fingers clutch rhythmically at his tunic.

"I'm sorry," Revas blurted out, "I just... I'm sorry!!"

"She thinks you're twenty years old, Revas. How did that happen?"

"Cause we told her we were!", Thene chirped up from where he sat cross-legged on the floor playing cards with Ena.

Revas cautiously drew back from his father. "It was easier than saying I'm sixteen. I mean we can pass for young-looking twenty."

"But you're not. And neither are your siblings. Don't get me started on your punishment when we return home. You shouldn't have been at the fight in the first place, Revas!"

"I couldn't let you go face him alone!" Revas blurted out between hiccuping sobs that nearly strangled the voice from his throat. "You're my Babae!"

Solas sighed and pressed his forehead to Revas's gently. "And you are my little one. Do you have any idea of how terrified I was when I realized you'd all snuck in? That you faced Elgar'nan of all people? Do you have any idea of what your _Mamae_ is going to do in our absence?"

Revas swallowed nervously before he shook his head.

"Well... be glad you will likely miss most of the fallout. What happened the last time an Evanurius attempted to use you as a bargaining chip does not bear repeating. As it is, I have to let them know your true age."

Revas went wide-eyed. "You can't!! She'll never let me help if she knows!"

"And?" Solas replied, one eyebrow raised as he stared into Revas's stricken face. "I don't disagree with that assessment. As far as I'm concerned, you are all sitting this out."


End file.
